In October 1994, Congress took action to protect public
safety and ensure national security by enacting the
Communications
Assistance for Law Enforcement Act
of 1994 (
CALEA
), Pub. L.
No. 103-414, 108 Stat. 4279. The law further defines the
existing statutory obligation of telecommunications carriers
to assist law enforcement in executing electronic
surveillance pursuant to court order or other lawful
authorization. The objective of CALEA implementation is to preserve law
enforcement's ability to conduct lawfully-authorized electronic surveillance
while preserving public safety, the public's right to privacy, and the
telecommunications industry's competitiveness.

May 3, 2006
Second Report, Memorandum Opinion, and Order
-- The primary goal of the Order is to ensure that Law Enforcement Agencies
have all of the resources that CALEA authorizes
with regard to facilities-based broadband Internet access providers (ISP)
and interconnected voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) providers.